The metabolism of radiohafnium in rats and hamsters: a possible analog of plutonium for metabolic studies.

The metabolism of radiohafnium (175Hf + 181Hf) was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats and Chinese hamsters for periods of up to 168 days. The results were compared with similar data for 239Pu in the same rat strain. In rats and hamsters the radiohafnium organ distribution was skeleton greater than skin greater than muscle greater than liver at about 7 days postinjection. Retention of radiohafnium and plutonium was similar in plasma and liver, as were the retention times observed for other organs: Absorption of radiohafnium from the gastrointestinal tract of rats was less than 0.05%. Biochemical studies showed that the radiohafnium was bound mainly to the iron-transport protein, transferrin, in blood plasma and in the liver cytosol of both the rat and the hamster, as has been observed also for plutonium. The metabolic behavior of radiohafnium mimics, to a large extent, that of plutonium, and it is suggested that radiohafnium can serve as a non-alpha-particle-emitting analog of plutonium for metabolic, biochemical, and selected human investigations.